"Lilith! Thank you." The working and the learning filled him with a sense of purpose and it had been food today and he was very grateful.

He had some things on his mind, though, and hoped for advice, and her thoughts. But first, a present.

Out of a pocket of that voluminous coat he wore came an egg looking thing, and out of that, when he popped the top off, came a silver oak sapling, healthy and sprouting.